7/13/2011

Fun Facts About Medieval Instruments

By Douglas Etri


Want to get your hands dirty? I can count a number of fun things to do this vacation. But are you willing to use the right side of your brain (creative side) instead of choosing to sit there for hours in front of your laptop or television? It would in fact do us greater good to think about other fascinating things that will make our free hours worth enjoying. Why not try to learn some things about unique medieval instruments?

You may exclaim that these medieval instruments are of no way interesting in this day and times. The fact that they seem to be a group of ancient, outclassed and forgotten musical instruments make you think they are, and in no other way, going to be popular. Sadly, you may want to rethink this thought over again because this is completely false. You might be surprised to know that even your kindergarten and elementary music room has medieval instruments in it. Drums for example, the fiddle and the tambourine. Or the bagpipes, the wind instrument for the poorest people back then.

Learning how to play these old-timer musical instruments would also be more fun if you can learn some little-known tidbits concerning the dark ages. This would not only increase your knowledge about the medieval history, but to allow the natural curiosity of the Dark ages to grow within you. Through this, music appreciation and the advocacy to spread the magic of the medieval music even to these modern times will be realized.

Interesting fact number one: The oldest known record share us this information-the world's oldest medieval instrument is none other than the human voice. When our European forebears seem to be overly occupied with farming and pasturing, do you think they would have enough time to mold instruments? Much less think of making music? According to found records, Christian monks used the human voice as a tool to spread their religion, and it is in this manner that Gregorian chants and hymns were propagated all through the Christendom.

Fun tidbit number two: Who do we owe the romantic ballads and tales of gallantry to? The answer: to the troubadours and the minstrels. The troubadours are well-known to recite Occitan lyric poetry. Their female counterparts are called trobairitz. While the minstrels are servants meant to entertain the high court. Their tongues are the bearer of fascinating tales about dragons, knights and courtly love, which might have happened in real life or just pure imagination.

Fun tidbit number three: The oldest church organ is said to be used to as back as the 8th century. Just think about this fact: without these trailblazers that we call medieval instruments, we will not have classical music, then modern music afterwards that we enjoy at the moment. Paying tribute to these "pioneers" need not only require our devote understanding, but in making sure they will last through time as well. When buying make sure to buy them from a trusted salon so you can have parts or repair for maintenance value whenever you need them.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment